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Final reflection

Looking back at my first year, I was feeling highly motivated and determined to work hard both academically and socially. By becoming the student representative of my class, I had the opportunity to organize a few activities, which made me closer to my classmates than I originally was.

As the first semester went on, I found myself genuinely enjoying the projects that we had to make, especially those from ICS. Since I don’t particularly like theoretical classes, I found these projects very fulfilling. I also encountered a minor problem with a problematic teacher for the IBE course, but I chose not to let it overshadow my experience. Instead, I focused on maintaining a positive mindset and making the most out of my time at school.

Towards the end of the first semester, I faced personal problems at home, which had a big impact on my academic performance. This emotional burden made it difficult to concentrate on my studies. I started experiencing difficulties with my language courses and, unfortunately, this also showed during the exams. Consequently, I passed only half of the subjects.

Realizing that I needed help, I reached out to study coaches, asked support from Stuvo, and sought therapy sessions. Through these resources, I was able to work on my emotional well-being. By the end of the second semester, I thankfully started feeling better.

However, the second semester had new challenges, especially with the sudden shift from project-based work to more theoretical subjects such as Law, Economics, and Marketing. As someone who struggles a lot with theoretical subjects because of ADHD, this transition was really hard to deal with and especially with the mental issues I was already experiencing. Despite my efforts, my grades did not meet my expectations.

Nevertheless, my first year as an IOM student was still fulfilling. I had the opportunity to meet new people and have meaningful friendships, including those who have been by my side while I was struggling with my well-being. The relationships formed during this time are very valuable to me.

In conclusion, my first year as an IOM student was a journey of personal growth, academic challenges, and meaningful connections. Although my grades may not have met the expectations of my teachers, I remain determined to learn from this and become a better student in the future.

As for next year, I am confident that I will become better in my subjects due to the changing curriculum. I think the transition to a module-based system is to my advantage as a student with ADHD. I believe that working with modules will help me to focus more effectively since it’s one subjects in a shorter term. I am positive that this shift will fit better with my learning style and improve my overall academic performance.

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ad-portfolio · 2 years ago

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Grow story

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ad-portfolio · 2 years ago

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Work observation report

The manager

Benoit Turbang, the manager I chose to shadow, is a 34 year old freelancer working for TROPOS.io which is a company where external companies can hire data analysts. One of the companies that hired him is the VAZG, and this is also the company where he has managerial functions. While working for the VAZG he has become the technical lead of data process and transformation team. This team receives data from the government, for example covid numbers, and they have to process and transform this depending on what the government wishes to do with the information.

Besides the VAZG he also has different tasks at Johnson & Johnson which is a Spanish Pharma company.

The company

Since the manager I shadowed is a freelancer who works for tasks at different companies, I decided to choose the task he has been working on for the longest time and also has the responsibilities of a manager. This is a task given by the Vlaams Agentschap Zorg & Gezondheid.

The Vlaams Agentschap Zorg & Gezondheid is a government organization in Belgium. They are in charge of healthcare and public health in the Flanders, regulating healthcare facilities, promoting public health initiatives, and collecting health data. Their goal is to ensure the well-being of the population.

Source: Over ons. (n.d.). Zorg En Gezondheid. https://www.zorg-en-gezondheid.be/over-ons

Organizational chart

Within this chart from the VAZG Benoit belongs to Beleidsinformatie & data.

Source: Organogram. (n.d.). Zorg En Gezondheid. https://zorg-en-gezondheid.be/over-ons/organogram

Logbook

9:45. Arrived at the company

9:57. (VAZG) weekly meeting about project status of team 3; status overview and checking of codes of team.

10:30. (J&J) daily meeting about status tasks

11:00. Spare time for my interview

11:50. Working on his own projects/tasks; coding etc..

11:58. (J&J) quick meeting with higher up about task

12:10. Lunch

13:03. Continuing working on own codes

13:46. (VAZG) meeting; 2 discussion codes with other employee

13:55. Continue working on own codes

15:15. Coffee break

15:24. Back to working on own codes

15:54. (VAZG) meeting for a (new) project with a third party that gets sensitive information from CLB and makes it anonymous before sending it to the technical team of VAZG (in this case one of Benoit’s teams), talking about the next steps and how to manage this project as it’s a new one.

16:27. Back to working on own codes, also answering e-mail and messages

17:30. Coffee break

17:45. Back to working on own codes

18:00. Go home

Interview report

I am 33 years old, turning 34 in May. I studied applied Informatics at the University College in Leuven (UCLL). Back then it was still the KHL. I started working in January 2013 so it’s been ten years since. My first projects were in the energy sector, for EDF Luminus and Ores. After that I’ve done a lot of projects for Telco, Mobistar and Telenet. I have also done a lot of project in the Pharma sector, for example the UCB and Johnson & Johnson which I am still working for. As for government projects I am now working for the Vlaams Agentschap Zorg & Gezondheid and I have also worked for the Brussels ministry and Liantis. I have also once done a little project for the construction sector, but that’s negligible. It’s mostly energy sector, internet, pharma and the government. I have never worked for one specific sector.

My daily activities mostly consist of checking on the teams that I’m managing to ask if everything’s going well and if they need help. We do this by doing “daily standups” which are 15-minute meetings for them to give an update on how the task is flowing. Sometimes I also just check in via chat just to ask if everything’s going well.

As for weekly activities, we try to sit together with the client at least two times a week for certain projects to make sure that there aren’t any issues arising by miscommunication. For the rest it’s just meetings all the time. Meetings for existing projects, meeting for new projects. I would say only 30-35% of my time is effectively coding on my own, while the rest I spend in meetings and reviewing the codes of others. In the past it wasn’t like this. I used to spend most of my time working on codes and only 10% of my time would be spent in meetings, but the more experience I had the more responsibilities I had gotten. I also think it depends on the size of the team. In the beginning we were only here with two, so we were just sitting beside each other and working together, but now we’re here with about 15 people so there is more time spent on managing these teams rather than developing my own codes.

One of the things I like about this job is developing my own codes. Besides that, what I like about the manager aspect of my job is that I can teach other’s what they don’t know and indicate what direction they should be going during their tasks. People also listen to you because you have more experience. I also like the interaction, I never get bored because there’s always someone to talk to. For me specifically, I also really like working on different projects and tasks because there’s a lot of variation. It’s very challenging and it takes a lot of time but I like doing what I do.

What I dislike about this job is that I don’t have a lot of time for myself because there’s a lot of meetings. Another dislike, although this may not be connected to the job directly, is that I feel myself getting older because it’s been so long since I’ve started working here so ever since then a lot of young people have joined. There is just a generational gap? I don’t know how to explain this well, but I find it pretty funny that I realize this difference. I find it harder to understand the mindset of these younger colleagues. Maybe I wouldn’t call it a dislike, rather it’s something I just noticed.

I’m actually very bad at managing time myself, one project is already hard to manage but I have two and a half. In the beginning I always tried to keep my Mondays for one project and the next day for another project but I quickly realized that it’s impossible. I can’t possibly ignore one project a whole day because I get tons of mails in my mailbox that I need to answer as quickly as possible. Now I just try to have days where I work for one project mostly, but I can’t help answering mails and having meetings for other projects in the same day. I’m flexible with it. I also work overtime a lot, but since my job is my passion I really don’t mind it. I also have flexible hours, so I can leave earlier if I don’t have anything to do for the rest of the day. I guess the most important thing would be to keep a good schedule. I personally use Outlook agenda.

While talking about the organizational structure of the company I’m choosing the VAZG since that’s where I spend most of my time. You’ve got the Flemish Government at the top of the organization, followed by the Federal Government, the agencies, the health and care agency, the department head, data and policy information, department head, and the technical point of contact for all teams which is my role. I would say that it’s the traditional structure, but the teams that are working here are definitely a contemporary structure since everyone’s working in flexible teams. The teams change up all the time too, we don’t want the people to stay in their comfort zone for too long because we think the quality of the work is less good when teams stay together because they start having their own way of working.

A few years ago the structure used to be very traditional. There weren’t any mixed teams nor were there many consultants, but now there’s more consultants than intern colleagues. I prefer the contemporary structure, because I think it’s easier to spot mistakes in codes for example, and people are less likely to have a breakdown from doing the same thing all the time. I guess if there weren’t any consultants that the traditional way could be used, it would be something positive especially intern colleagues. I don’t think there are many advantages of the traditional structure though.

About innovation, there is definitely a way that colleagues can share their ideas. If a junior says that they have a great idea we’re always down to listen to it. And if we agree that the idea is good and it can be used, we do it. There was a time that a colleague had a totally new idea to restructure the way everything is set up here. We researched it and she turned out to be right so we applied it and we haven’t regretted it at all. I don’t think there’s that big of a hierarchy here, so juniors can definitely tell us their ideas.

I think within this project at the VAZG it’s pretty hard to be stimulated because there’s not much for those within the IT. There’s no challenging projects. It’s the most important to just gain experience here.

Before the consultants were hired, there was a technology stack which were really old software tools. There was a database from the 90’s. It wasn’t flexible, and it took really long to finish a project because of it. Then came covid, and since the VAZG became responsible to manage this crisis it was important to work fast and efficient. This is when they realized that it wasn’t going to work out with the old software. They came to TROPOS, the consultancy company, and asked for help. This is when I got hired and introduced a new software. Everything changed after the new innovation was initiated.

The interns who used to work here didn’t like it very much though, because all the work got handed over to the consultants since they already knew how the new software worked. A lot of these old employees either had a burnout or quit the job since they didn’t like the change.

The advice I would like to give you is to stay empathetic towards people, don’t try to create a hierarchy. When you talk with colleagues don’t always talk about work, stay friendly and ask about their life outside of work too. You can’t be too comfortable though, you always need to remember that you’re still working above them. Keep it a healthy mix between the two.

Reflection

• What have you learnt from the work observation?

Before this work observation I saw managers as people doing the same thing almost every day behind their computers, but seeing Benoit work and genuinely enjoy what he does made me rethink it. His work completely depends on the project he’s working on so he has a lot of flexibility. I really respect that he has two ongoing projects and still makes time to manage his teams within these projects besides his own work.

• What was the most/least enjoyable part of this experience?

The most enjoyable part of this experience is that I was allowed to join the meetings and hear what they were talking about. Although I couldn’t follow much in depth since I’m not specialized in Data it was fun to follow. Also since he was very flexible I could ask a lot of questions

The least enjoyable part of this experience was the fact that since I’m not very knowledgeable in IT I couldn’t follow what everyone was talking most of the time.

• Would you consider having this job later in life? Why or why not?

I would consider being a freelance manager leading different projects the way Benoit does, but not specified in IT or Data.

• Which IOM learning outcomes are important in your manager's job? Explain.

Planning and organization since it’s important to keep track of the meetings. Intercultural sensitivity since there’s a lot of different clients you could be working with and digital literacy since it’s important to know how to use the needed programs.

• Do you expect your IOM program to prepare yourself for a function such as the one observed? In what way do you expect the IOM curriculum to cater to your needs in this way?

No, because this manager is very specified in IT and technical expertise. Benoit got management functions due to years of experience rather than studying to become a manager. However, I do think that in other fields this program would prepare us well.

Appendix

Work observation certificate

NOTE: there is an error in the certificate, it should be 18h instead of 17h.

Interview questions Interviewee: Benoit Turbang Job title: Freelance data engineer/technical expert

Basic information

How old are you? What did you study in university/college? How many years of work experience do you have since graduating?

Do you have experience working in other fields/industries?

Could you sum up some daily/weekly activities that need to be done? What are your responsibilities?

Could you tell me two things you like about this job and two things you dislike? And why?

How do you allocate your time between different projects/tasks? Could you give some tips on how to manage time effectively?

Organizational structure

Could you give me a description of how the company is structured? Would you classify it as a traditional structure (employees follow chain of command) or contemporary structure (employees work on projects together)?

Have you ever worked in an industry where the opposite structure was used? If yes, which structure do you prefer and why? What do you think are the pros and cons of each structure?

Innovation

Is there any way employees can share their innovative ideas on certain projects in this company? What are your thoughts about this?

Being in the right environment is what transforms creativity to innovation, do you think this company is an environment that stimulates this? If yes, how?

Change

Did the company ever go through organizational change, specifically a change in technology (e.g. The implementation of ERP, introduction of big data, …)? Why did it happen? (internal + external factors) and how was this dealt with?

Has it ever happened that employees resisted a change? What was their reason?

To finish off, would you like to share some tips and tricks for me as a management student?

Confirmation e-mail coach

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ad-portfolio · 2 years ago

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Workshop reflection

Last semester my group and I worked together to organize a workshop. In this reflection, I would like to share my thoughts about the part I was in charge of during this memorable workshop.

During the workshop, I was given the responsibility of leading an activity that revolved around the concept of brainstorming. I decided to challenge the class by asking them to imagine a scenario where they were the only ones aware of a monster that was going to destroy the world.

Dividing the class into three groups, I encouraged them to brainstorm about what they would do with this information. Witnessing my classmates have fun with this imaginative exercise was truly fun to see. It reminded me of the importance of letting students be creative instead of just doing exercises.

After the brainstorming session, each group was tasked with drawing their ideas on a big piece of paper. As they worked together, my group and I went around to see what they were drawing and while passing we already got a glimpse of the crazy stories they thought of. I felt really rewarding to see them have fun and it was this that made this workshop particularly special. Instead of the usual seriousness in the classroom environment you could see the students in their bubbles having fun.

At the end of the workshop, the groups had aa friendly competition and had to present their drawings and explain their plans. We decided to choose a winner, and since we were with six coaches we decided to give every group two votes. This way everyone became a winner and it was heartwarming to see the joy when the groups realized this. For me this was a memorable experience because I don’t think we get enough opportunities to just have fun in class, and I’m glad I was able to do this workshop.

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ad-portfolio · 2 years ago

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Mentorship project

October 7th 2022

Project kick-off

November 24th 2022

Dinner at Royal India and karaoke at O’Leary’s

December 15th 2022

IOM Christmas party and Wintermarket in Ghent at the Korenmarkt

March 20th 2023

The fair at Sint-Pietersplein

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ad-portfolio · 2 years ago

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First semester reflection

My first semester as an IOM student began really good. I found it easy to keep up with my classes and enjoyed working on the projects. However, as the semester continued, I found it difficult to manage multiple deadlines, especially in my languages. The pace of the French language course was too fast for me, and unfortunately, I failed the subject. I will need to retake the exam in August. Although I managed to pass Chinese, my grade was only average, and my teacher warned me that it’s going to be harder to keep up next semester. I also failed IBE, but that’s because I couldn’t put in much effort due to issues with our teacher.

On a social level, I had an average experience. At first I didn't know anyone, but I took the opportunity to become student representative. I organized a few class activities, which were enjoyed by most of the students. However, toward the end of the semester, there were some personal issues within the student council, which made me take the decision to leave. Nevertheless, I think it was the right choice as my classes only got busier.

Throughout the semester, my emotions changed. I felt confident at the beginning when everything seemed to be going well academically. As the workload increased and I struggled to keep up, I felt frustrated and overwhelmed. Failing the French subject and getting an average score for Chinese was definitely demotivating. The personal issues within the student council brought about a mixture of disappointment and relief. I also felt really annoyed at the issues that arose during our IBE course and became frustrated that I have to retake the exam in august. But even though there were a lot of stressful moments, I feel like it was still a nice semester overall since I enjoyed most of my classes.

There were aspects that went well in my first semester. I was able to manage the workload and enjoyed working on projects. Being a student representative was also really fun and I am glad I decided to be in the student council, even though it wasn’t for long. However, I found it difficult to balance multiple deadlines together with my language classes. Especially during French I found it really hard to follow. I realize that I should have asked for help from the teacher or other students in the class, but I wasn’t that close yet with the students and I was already demotivated so I didn’t feel like asking help from the teacher.

I realized that I would definitely need help for French. I would like to be more open to ask help, whether it be from the teacher or my classmates. Besides that, I will also use language apps such as Duolingo and Drops to better my French before next semester. As for Chinese, I will use the vacation to study more and try to catch up and become better.

I decided that I will focus on time management and prioritization, ensuring that I have enough time for each subject and manage deadlines better. As for French, I will seek additional resources, such as tutoring or language learning tools like Duolingo and Drops. Moreover, I will try to become closer and have better relationships with the group of friends I have connected with.

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